New Superintendent Carey Wright approved by Senate, salary will be $300,000 per year.

Four months after she started work, Carey Wright’s position as Mississippi’s state superintendent of education is official.

State senators voted 46-6 to confirm Wright yesterday after a brief debate that focused on whether her values are right for Mississippi and whether senators should support her advocacy of Common Core state standards and publicly funded prekindergarten.

“I do not take for granted the confidence placed in me to fulfill the duties of this position, and I look forward to working with the state Board of Education, legislators, school district superintendents, teachers and parents across the state on ways to raise student achievement,” Wright said in a statement.

Wright, the first woman to serve permanently as state superintendent in Mississippi, is making $300,000 a year.